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Student Tax Deduction Form Glitch May Delay Returns for Some

Some taxpayers that used H&R Block to file their taxes this year may also be receiving their returns later that anticipated if they used a student tax credit deduction form.

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The Internal Revenue Service is reporting that up to 600,000 tax returns filed by H&R Block may be delayed for up to six weeks due to an issue with the form that allows people to take the student tax credit deduction. On Form 8863, filers can receive up to 100% of the first $2,000 of qualifying expenses and 25% of expenses higher than that amount.

The IRS revised the form earlier this year to require taxpayers to enter an “n” for lines 23-26 to confirm qualifications for eligibility. In the past, it was acceptable to simply leave these fields blank. Those who did not enter “n” will see delays, H&R Block says. Only those who filed between Feb. 14 and Feb. 22 are impacted.

The tax company said it is working with the IRS to expedite a solution for affected clients. “For those clients who received the IRS notice regarding form 8863 that said it would take 6-8 week to receive a refund after this issue was resolved, we are assured it will not take that long. We continue to work with the IRS and as we have more specifics on timing and any other updated information, we will share it with our clients,” H&R Block posted on its Facebook page.